Myrnin's Interest
by Hallie Storm
Summary: Set in the future ten years after book 14. Myrnin goes to Claire with a proposal.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Claire woke to the sound of tapping. Like a persistent bird was pecking at her window. She blinked into darkness, felt across the bed to the cold spot where Shane should be. Pain wrapped around her heart as the realisation hit her - he was gone, he'd never lay next to her again, never see their little girl grow up. The tapping continued, drawing her thoughts, at least momentarily, away from the pain in her chest.

Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and Claire saw the outline of a figure at her window. She should have been frightened, or at least startled, but that would require an emotion other than heart break, and she just didn't have anything else in her. She flicked on the lamp, blinked until the light brought the pale face into focus.

"What do you want?" She asks quietly.

"Can I come in?"

"If I say no, will you go away?"

"Afraid not."

She sighs, "very well, come in Myrim."

The widow slides up and he steps in, one bunny slipper after the other, like he'd been floating on air, and not precariously balanced on a slim branch.

"I'm sorry for your lose." He says quietly.

Claire's eyes light up in surprise and quickly fill with tears. She dabs at them with a tissue from the box next to her bed. "Thank you Myrim. That means a lot, coming from you."

He approaches and sits on the edge of the bed next to her. "I never liked him. He was never good enough for you." Claire cracks a grin and the beginnings of a laugh escape her lips.

"That's ok, he didn't much care for you either."

"Yes, but I feel that was due to our common… interest, rather than anything to do with my personality. I'm quite charming, you know." Again Claire smiles. "Speaking of which, I wanted to talk to you about it."

"Your charming personality?"

"No, my interest."

Claire tenses, she didn't need one of his crazy schemes right now. "Myrnin, I just buried my husband." She says quietly.

"I know, that's why I have to talk to you now."

She sighs, blows her nose, and nods. Sometimes it's just easier when it comes to Myrnin, to let him have his crazy five minutes and then try to reason with him. Although, it was odd for him to remain as calm as he was, for as long as he had. She was half expecting him to break out into a rant at any minute.

"You're a widow and a single mother. It is not a very fitting position for a respectable young lady."

"Oh Myrnin, you're thinking of the wrong century." She says softly.

"Nonsense, in no time is it a fitting situation for a lady to be in."

She shrugs, he had a point there. "Is this the part where you tell me you've built a time machine and we can go back and move Shane out of the way of the drunk driver?" It had been two weeks since the accident yet she still couldn't believe it. Not that Shane had died, short life spans come with the town, but the way he had died. He'd told her once that he'd always thought that it would be a vampire that killed him. It made sense giving how badly he managed to piss them off over the years. So when she'd gotten the call, been told what had happened, she didn't believe it at first. Her first reaction, when she'd come too from the initial shock, was that it was some kind of cover up. Who could blame her in a town like Morganville. But it wasn't. It was a human affair. Despite Amelie's promise of change, a promise that has been kept for years now, it didn't mean that all of Morganville's problems had completely gone away. Alcohol was much of the town's inhabitants way of coping with years of vampire oppression, and now, it was their way of coping with past oppression.

He pauses, "A time machine… you know I've often thought that the math is possible, the problem comes when you…"

"Myrnin, as much as I enjoy our chats, it is late."

"Yes… yes of course, to the point." He stands and flourishes out his 19th century coat. He would actually look really smart if he hadn't matched it with orange shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. Claire never did understand how a man so smart, couldn't seem to grasp the concept of matching colours. He drops to one knee and produces a small black box. Claire's eyebrows furrow in caution. Half suspecting him to be about to present her with one of his pet insects, she clutches her duvet tighter. His pale long fingers open the lid and to her utter amazement, her eyes fall upon an enormous diamond.

"My dear, I have wanted to present you with this since you first shouted me down in my lab. You were so brave, just a flint of a girl, standing up to a crazed vampire. I will be a good husband Claire. I will raise your daughter as if she were my own…"

"Please stop." She gasps through tears.

"I am not expecting an answer from you just yet." He stands and places the ring box on her bedside cabinet. I wish merely to make my intentions clear. I have waited a decade for you Claire, a thousand more would mean nothing if you were at the end of it." He returns to the window and slides it open. "As much as it kills me, to see you human, vulnerable, breakable, I would not change you, not without your permission. As long as you are mine, I will protect you."

"Myrnin, the only person I need protection from, is you."

A smile breaks out on his face, "Claire, you've always been able to control me, even at when I was not quite myself." He says tapping his temple. He had been losing his mind due to a sickness that was attacking all of the vampires, when they had first met. His moods would change faster than the wind, from manic to real, heart breaking tears. "Don't you see? I'm better with you."

"I love Shane." She says matter of factly.

He nods. "I'll wait, as long as it takes."

He vanishes out of the window before Claire can even think of a reply.

_I will continue upon request._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was the sound of heavy boots stomping across the hardwood floor, that drew Claire's attention to her bedroom door. To the light that had risen and cast itself across her bedspread, floor. She watched the door knob as it rattled and turned, without the slightest of concerns, even though she knew Alyssa wasn't at home, that she'd spent the night over at the Glass House.

"Good morning sunshine! I have coffee!" Eve stampeded into the room like she would have done when they'd all lived together. The sight of her and her blazen attitude, tugged the slightest of smiles from Claire's lips.

"How's Alyssa?"

Eve's happiness wavered. "She's just like her mother! Won't let it all out, just buries her nose in a book!" Claire opened her hands; showed empty, book free, palms. "Yeah well, the fact you're handling it so well is totally creeping me out! I balled my eyes out for days when we first heard and you…"

"You think I don't care?"

"Of course not. I just think you're keeping it all on the inside. You need to let it out. This is Morganville, 'inside stuff' rots."

"It doesn't feel real." Said Claire, gazing off into space. "I keep thinking he'll walk in any minute. That I'll smell his chili cooking, hear his laugh." Eve laced her fingers with her friend's and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "I just, I still don't believe it. He can't be dead, he just can't be. Not like that, not in this town."

"You still think the Vamps are hiding something?"

Claire's eyes fixed sharply to hers, "would you put it past them?" She studied her face intently. Ignoring the thick white makeup, blood red lips and heavy eyeliner.

"Ten years ago no, but things are different now. They've changed Claire, they really have."

Claire frowned. "Ten years of good behavior out of centuries of bad, is no reason to trust them."

"You sound like Shane. He never really believed they could change." Eve said on a sigh. "But they aren't responsible for what happened to him. Claire, they had nothing to do with it."

"Yet I can't shake the feeling that he's not really gone. That none of this is real."

Eve adjusted her black mini skirt, making sure the little skulls on the bottom lined up the way she liked. "Get yourself dressed and meet me downstairs." She ordered.

"Why?"

"Because I'm making you eggs, which you are going to eat and then, then we're going to see Oliver."

"Oliver darling!" Crooned Eve as she threw herself into his arms, dotting his cheeks with kisses. The sight of them so close still gave Claire the creeps, even though they'd been like it for nearly a decade now. Ever since Oliver had saved a heavily pregnant Eve, from dying in child birth. She'd even named her son after him. Now she and Michael both regarded Oliver as family.

"Come, sit, I'll be with you in just a minute."

The girls did as instructed, taking a seat in the shaded area of Common Grounds. It hadn't changed much over the years. Eve had redecorated the place much to Oliver's dismay, but on the whole, it still looked like it did when Claire had first walked in. It wasn't the only thing that still looked the same - Oliver. Claire knew that vampires didn't age, that they were trapped at the age they first died at forever, and yet it still surprised her. Every time she saw one of them, she was cast back to her early years in this town, until she'd catch her reflection, saw the laughter lines that had formed around her eyes. She'd once thought of it as kind of sad, that they were trapped, never able to move forwards. But now she could understand the appeal of it. She didn't want to move forward, not without Shane.

"Here, you look like you need this." Oliver said, placing a cup in front of her. She took a sip and was hit by steamed milk, spiced coco and hot peppers. He was right, she did need it. He placed a cappuccino in front of Eve before sitting. He still donned the worn out jeans, old t-shirts, and still kept his hair tied back in a low pony tail. Nothing about him had changed, he even ducked his tea bag the same, watching it critically before nodding in satisfaction.

"You're hoping I have something to make it better with."

"Do you? Oliver, please, if there's anything you know."

"I know that Shane Collins was hit and killed by a drunk driver. I know that said driver, has pleaded guilty to the charge, and will be found as such when he is tried." Claire sat back like the air had been knocked out of her. She'd been told that the driver was pretty banged up and was in the hospital. But she hadn't actually given any thought as whether he had pleaded guilty or not. She realised as she sat there, watching her friend sitting with a vampire, looking so relaxed, so happy, so… trusting, that it was because she never really thought he was guilty. In her mind, it was the Vampires who were to blame.

"I'll get it!" Called Alyssa, running for the phone. She knew who it would be. They both knew it could only be one person. Only one person ever called on the land line. It was the only reason Claire kept it.

"Hi Gran!"

Claire turned back to the novel in her hands. Back to looking at words that had become strangers. To letters she could no longer make sense of. She turned the page but it made no difference. Her earlier conversation with Oliver weighed heavily on her mind. She knew he was right, that Shane had been killed in an accident. But she couldn't let go of the feeling that there was more to it. That life in Morganville, was never that cut and dry, that there was always something more sinister at work.

"Okay, sure Gran. Mom, Granny wants to talk to you."

She rose from her chair like a puppet on a string, no thought, just movement. "Hello?"

"Darling! Are you alright?"

Claire was starting to hate that question. It was such a stupid question. No one actually wanted to know the real answer. If she was honest, and said no, her mother would just sigh and compare Shane's death to that of her father's. But it was nothing like her father's. He died in his sleep. He died peacefully, years after outliving the doctor's prognosis. Shane's life was ripped from him. Stolen in a wash of blood and pain.

"Why, what is it?" Claire asked, choosing not to lie to her mother.

"That strange man came by. The one you used to work for…"

Claire's eyes widened. Even though she could hear that her mother was fine - well in fact - a cold feeling descended. "What did he want?"

"It was the most peculiar of things sweetheart, he asked me for your hand in marriage. Said that although it wasn't needed, with your father being dead, he felt he should ask me. I was really quite taken with the young man."

"Young man! Mom, he's an ancient! He doesn't even know how old he is!"

"There's no need to get upset dear."

"No need to get upset…"

"Well I didn't say yes to the nice young man." Claire rolled her eyes. "I told him that you were always too head strong to listen to your mother."

"Mom…" she groaned.

"Well it's true! But he makes a good case sweetie."

"Oh does he?" Claire could imagine it now. That was the thing about Myrnin, in a way he was like the world, great, until he was awful.

"… and his accent, just so charming dear. It's like he sings his words. I'm not saying you should rush into anything, but maybe just think…"

"Mom!" Claire cried in frustration, tears pricking at her eyes. She suddenly felt like she was sixteen again. "Mom, I gotta go. I love you." She put the phone down, turned away from the questioning look on her daughter's face, and went back, to looking at pages full of words that she could no longer make sense of.


End file.
